Will NASA last another 50 years?

Will NASA last another 50 years?

As for lunar exploration, that impressive but short-lived child of a near-forgotten cold war, we have reached a time where NASA is no longer
the proud vanguard of a technological adventure. Instead it seems to be the faltering custodian of an old one. The spacecraft that will be used for
touchdown missions in the coming decade are based on systems designed in the late 1970s: solid rocket boosters from the space shuttle, bolted onto a
familiar throwaway fuel tank, topped by a conical crew capsule that is embarrassingly similar to the old Apollo.
We've seen this stuff before, so do not experience the same thrill in rocket adventures as our parents did 40 or 50 years ago, when both they and the
space age were still young. This failure to seduce us represents a fundamental problem for NASA. If it can't inspire people any more, then what's the
point? Unless it can restore that vital bond of communication, it's hard to see a way forward for the ageing agency.

Originally posted by plumranch
a convincing case for NASA being a .... burocratic, unnecessarily secretive .... organization

I think that is exactly what they are.

When NASA grabbed worldwide attention, space exploration, as the article said, was young, exciting and new. Therefore, it was easy to grab people's
attention and interest.

But now, no one even knows what NASA is doing. The secretive and hidden agenda, the blurry and confusing mission objectives and the lack of disclosure
of facts has essentially extinguished the natural interest that most, if not all humans have in space and space exploration.

From the outside, which is the only perspective most of us have, it looks like it is about self interest and money with NASA and those who run it
behind closed doors.

Its not about science. Its not about sharing videos and photos of bodies in our Solar System and Universe for entertainment, excitement and learning
purposes. Its not about potentially finding life elsewhere, or at least not to share it with the public.

Its about greed and power. Just like everything else.

Until we have an independent body with powerful enough technology to explore space, I fear that greed and special interest will continue to suppress
people's interests in space exploration, allowing NASA and everyone else to use space for their own needs and wants, and not for scientific
purposes.

Its really very sad. We have this potential to do such great things, the biggest of which is far reaching space travel and exploration for scientific
and learning purposes, and we're wasting it for personal gain.

A person's personal materialistic gains die with him/her. Knowledge lives forever. If only these people knew or even cared about that... :shk:

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